


don't say yes

by nothingsafeisworththedrive



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Catholicism Warning, F/F, F/M, Sapphic, Song: Speak Now (Taylor Swift), Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27087667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingsafeisworththedrive/pseuds/nothingsafeisworththedrive
Summary: Jennifer Jareau is marrying William LaMontagne, Jr., the love of her life. Or so everyone thinks. What if someone unexpected objects to their union?
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/William LaMontagne Jr.
Kudos: 35





	don't say yes

It wasn’t that Emily disliked weddings or churches, but as the light streamed through the stained glass of St Patrick’s Catholic Church, she felt her stomach lurch. This was for Jennifer, and Jennifer only, she had to remind herself. The fact that Emily was stepping inside a Catholic church for the first time since her teenage years was completely about supporting JJ and not at all about her repressed feelings for her coworker. Emily couldn’t bring herself to confess when JJ excitedly came to her, showing her the ring and telling Emily how Will had proposed. It broke Emily’s heart, but she would never let it show.   
So Emily walked through the church smiling at the other members of the BAU. She turned to see JJ’s mother giving her a look Emily had only seen one time before. She had been nineteen and paralyzed under Elizabeth Prentiss’ glare as she uttered the word “lesbian”. It wasn’t the first time Emily ended up running away, and it wasn’t the last, but more than once, Emily had considered it the most damaging. She tucked her feelings deep inside herself and said she would never act on them. And then she met JJ.   
It didn’t matter now, as Emily sat in a pew next to Spencer and Derek. They were chattering about JJ’s dress, about the music, about everything. Emily attempted to join the conversation but she realized her thoughts were far too scattered to make sense of. Hotch gave her a look that she knew all too well. She nodded with a small smile. She wasn’t okay but he didn’t need to know that. Without thinking about it, Emily glanced over at JJ’s mother again, who was talking with someone in hushed tones.   
“That’s the ugliest dress I have ever seen,” Morgan whispered to Emily, following her gaze to Sandy Jareau.  
“I wouldn’t say the ugliest, I just… Pastels have looked better.” Emily muttered, half-heartedly coming up with the statement. Morgan tsked softly. He must not have noticed his friend’s distant stare or known not to ask, because he turned back to Spencer. Emily let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She held up her left wrist and checked the clock. She wanted JJ to be happy, she did, but she wanted this to be over as soon as possible. Emily looked around, seeing members of the wedding party take their places.   
Will looked, well, like he always did. He had shaved but the remnants of New Orleans would always be there in the way he stood, in the way he smiled, in everything about him. The organ began playing and the entire room rose to their feet. Emily turned to see the back of the church. As JJ rounded the corner, the light streaming into the church highlighted her perfectly. Her gentle blond curls cascading down to her shoulders, where they met straps that connected to a beautiful gown. Emily felt her mouth go dry seeing JJ like this.   
Rossi led JJ down the aisle in lieu of her father but to a stranger, it would appear as if Dave had been there since JJ’s first breath. He looked at her with a small smile, a gentle tear rolling down his cheek. JJ briefly locked eyes with Emily as she came down the aisle. It felt perfect and awful at the same time. It didn’t take a profiler to know what Emily felt, no matter how hard she fought it. The music continued and so did JJ. Will looked at her from the altar, too in love with her to notice the tense air between his fiancee and her best friend.   
JJ reached the altar, stepping over to hand Penelope her bouquet before approaching Will with a smile spread across her face. The priest smiled at them both as he opened his bible. Everyone sat down, many smiles across many faces.  
“Dearly beloved, you have come together into the house of the Church so that…” Emily zoned out momentarily, mesmerized by JJ, barely listening to the priest speak. Morgan nudged her gently, noticing how little attention was being paid to the event. “be faithful to each other forever and assume all the responsibilities of married life. And so, in the presence of the Church, I ask you to state your intentions.”  
“William LaMontagne and Jennifer Jareau, have you come here to enter into Marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?” The priest asked, looking from Will to JJ, then back to Will.  
“I have,” Will answered, his New Orleans twang evident. JJ answered the same. Emily began absentmindedly chewing on her nails.  
“Are you prepared, as you follow the path of marriage, to love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?”  
“I am,” answered both Will and JJ, respectively. Emily could feel her heart pounding in her throat. She was thinking about her plan, considering chickening out.   
“Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?”  
“I am.” JJ smiled softly at Henry, who was serving as his parents’ ring bearer. The priest glanced at the young boy but did not react.  
“Since it is your intention to enter the covenant of Holy Matrimony, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church.” JJ and Will did as the priest said. The blonde’s hands fit awkwardly with her fiance’s. Emily couldn’t help but think that her hands would fit JJ’s better.  
“William, do you take Jennifer for your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?” The priest stared expectedly at Will.  
“I do, absolutely,” the man answered. His happiness was radiating from him.  
“Jennifer, do you take William for your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”  
“I do,” JJ answered softer, smiling at Will.  
“If anyone has just cause to object to the union of these two, speak now or forever hold your peace,” the priest said flatly. He expected no drama, no fuss, just another wedding.   
Emily’s hands shook as she stood slowly. JJ and Will’s heads turned abruptly to look at her. The members of the team stared at Emily, agape. Emily took a slow, deep breath.  
“Don’t say yes. Don’t do it, Jennifer. Let’s run away, now. I’ll meet you when you’re out of your gown at the back door. Don’t wait. Please, I am begging. You need to hear me out… and they said speak now.” Emily’s voice broke as she finished. Everyone in the room was staring at her, shocked, disgusted, but mostly just horrified. Emily had one focus, though, and that was JJ. Emily watched as JJ drew her hands away from Will. There was an audible gasp from the room. Emily stepped into the aisle, offering a gentle smile. JJ stepped back from Will.  
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to him. JJ turned towards Emily and walked to her. She was moving at regular speed but Emily could have sworn the moment was occurring in slow motion.   
That’s when JJ’s lips crashed against Emily’s. Sandy stood up, nearly falling. Rossi stepped towards the women, but Will gently held him back. JJ pulled away from Emily and stared into her eyes.  
“I thought you would never ask.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was also posted on my Wattpad, @illicitaffairs_. This is my first ever Jemily fic, please be gentle with me.


End file.
